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Cuthaill
Driven, hardworking, and proud, the Cuthaill were the first to shape the Venswood to their will rather than dwell by its rules. Affable and communal, the Cuthaill strive to build a life of comfort and hospitality, but will not hesitate to defend their works and culture against those ignorant fools who would treat their clade trivially. 'Features' The Roots of the Community The Cuthaill value community above all else, to the point where they can become frustrated with others who shrug off their responsibilities. Cuthaill culture values dependability, and prefers innovative solutions that improve daily life over hard work. It was the Cuthaill who cut the first glades and meadows from the Venswood (no mean feat given the habit the forest has of fighting back), and who made permanent settlement for members of the Choir a possibility with their advanced agriculture. Horn Of Plenty Cuthaill took well to settled life but did not become content or complacent, rather they turned their energies to ever-improving their lives. Commonly involved in the Choir’s masonry, animal husbandry, and farming they have become the agricultural powerhouse of the Choir. While Cuthaill will defend their homes when needed, to most Cuthaill the best weapon is a strong, self-sufficient community that needs no defense but failing that, a common kitchen pan will do in a pinch! Home And Hearth Despite their impressive agricultural capability and work ethic, the Cuthaill can be mistaken for fussy homemakers by the unfamiliar. The reward for their cunning work and sheer farming prowess is the ability to produce all manner of cozy comforts and rich foods, as well as lavish, well-furnished homes. Cuthaill place a great deal of value in hospitality and respect of the home, a fact that can put them at odds with the pathologically rough-edged Spears. To the Cuthaill, it isn't enough to survive. One should thrive. Merrymaking Every season large festivals are thrown to honor the work in the community, both as a sign of respect and joy. These festivals were huge celebrations including log rolling contests, bake-offs, pig races, hedge mazes, alongside seasonal events such as pumpkin carving, ice fishing, bouquet-making, and watermelon eating. At the end of each seasonal festival, once the other clades have departed, the Cuthaill honor the harvest and the deceased with a ritualistic pyre. They burn a portion of their harvest in honor of nature and their fallen friends and family. History The Venswood is a dangerous place. More than perhaps any other of its peoples, this truth was well-impressed upon the Cuthaill - their name for themselves. Compared to nearly everything else that hunted and killed in the Venswood, the Cuthaill were (and remain) diminutive. Thus the ancestors of the modern-day Cuthaill banded together. Their society was composed of caigs - Cuthaill for “community”, independent villages, all centered around a protective holding of some sort typically surrounded by what means the caig’s Cuthaill found to make use of their bountiful, dangerous land (frequently, rudimentary farms). These Caigs were led by a dynn - in most cases, an honoured elder, and “dynn” remains in the Cuthaill language to this day as a respectful word for ‘elder’. This leader was responsible for maintaining their holding and its defenses and first and foremost ensuring the protection of those of their caig. In turn, the people of the caig owed them loyalty and ensured that their dynn had both food - meaning the dynn did not have to gather any themselves and could focus on their caig’s protection - and able defenders for their caig. This system lasted for many centuries. The caigs were not united in any real sense, but travel and trade between them was not uncommon, and Cuthaill culture very quickly developed a custom of hospitality and generosity to each other - a matter of practicality at first (as their people could not afford to not be magnanimous to one another) and soon also one of honour. Recent History As the generations wore on, the Cuthaill grew more and more talented in harnessing the immense breadth of the Venswood. Simple patches gave way to farms, and in some of the very richest, most powerful Caigs, entire fields. Food, once a thing relatively bountiful but eagerly hoarded, became a matter of course. And elsewhere, the Venswood was changing. The Spears destroyed race after race of monstrous beasts. The glades of the Kihai grew more peaceful and orderly. The Hjen gave rise to the Wildchoir philosophy. The system of caigs grew increasingly obsolete, and more and more Cuthaill moved out from under the shadow of their hillforts and next to their farms and fields. When the Wildchoir formed,, the Cuthaill devoted themselves entirely to agriculture and the fortresses of old were abandoned for good. These new villages were still mostly autonomous, but they kept closer ties with one another. Their leaders were not powerful dynn as had led the caigs but typically (but not nearly always) councils of the most respected and capable. It is this period that most affects current-day Cuthaill culture. The rich culture of generosity and heartiness of ages past blossomed beyond the practical and honorary and into the recreational, and the Cuthaill - by every measure - prospered. Culturally and as a people, when Cuthaill think of ‘the past’, it is this time of peace and plenty (and agriculture, so much agriculture) that comes to mind. The ancient times of caigs and dynn are remembered only in old stories, and only those who have deliberately studied history would even know anything more about them than that they existed. But seasons change, and the early frost kills the crops. Culture Cuthaill culture adores food, and it is a stereotype with some foundation in reality that Cuthaill are all excellent chefs. This should not be mistaken for a kind of hedonism, however. To the Cuthaill, food is a culmination of and the reward for work. Food represents plenty and community, and thus, to Cuthaill, eating of any kind is more than a mere satisfying of appetites; it is a celebration of life and its responsibilities fulfilled. For diligence in one’s work, and work itself, is also a value in itself. For all their prodigious feasting and celebrating, each Cuthaill community also expects its members to do their part - most obviously by farming and preparing food, but also by woodcutting, blacksmithing, building. Even bookkeepers and diplomats are included, for so long as one’s labours serve one’s community, they are seen as worthy of praise and fulfilling expectations. Hospitality is also an immense value among the Cuthaill. It is an expression of empathy, of generosity - essentially expressing to a person that you wish to coexist with them in peace. Of course, what hospitality entails differs based on the occasion, but the offering of food (if any at all is available) happens in all cases. Naming Conventions Cuthaill given names are nearly all one or two syllables. They tend not to mean anything specific, but Cuthaill surnames are nearly all a noun combined with something natural. Cuthaill names are nearly all First name + Last name. Middle names, if they exist, are typically more like nicknames or titles conferred by circumstance - such as “Kent Breadmaker Laughingoak”. Cuthaill also, while mostly linguistically uniform, do still possess dialects - leading to some variation in first names. Example male first names Example female first names Example surnames Example Cuthaillic surnames Families Cuthaill do not keep very long genealogies per se (as a source of support historically has been one’s community as opposed to necessarily one’s kin), but families are still considered important by most, and even cousins are expected to receive a warm welcome when met. A family oftentimes has a ‘head’, typically the oldest member - a relic from Cuthaill history when old age was an automatic path to prestige - whose wisdom and opinion is sought out. This authority isn’t very strict, though, nor do they hold any more power over their family members than those family members allow. Building Cuthaill architecture is essentially divisible into two categories; ‘burrows’ (though there is no strict name for them), built into hills and mounds, and more standard houses. Regardless of the location, Cuthaill houses and buildings tend to be predominantly wood with some stone for reinforcement (and when necessary, safety). Cuthaill also tend to build horizontally rather than vertically - though this is far from a hard rule. Cuthaill tend to take pride, sometimes great, in their homes. The size of a Cuthaill’s house varies based on preference and means, but essentially all tend to be very cozy within, filled with rugs and furniture and small decorative items. Large open spaces are uncommon (of course, ultimately, what the interior of a Cuthaill’s house looks like is theirs to choose). Personal Gardens Homes regularly have at least small agricultural plots. While not every Cuthaill is a farmer, the notion of growing, tending to, and cooking crops yourself ought to be considered as a regular tradition, and as such, even small homes should have, in some capacity, a garden. In this new world, space is likely to be more abundant, meaning that these gardens are likely to scale up into hobby farms. In a similar fashion to one’s home itself, one’s garden or farm is also to be a point of pride. Combat The historical Cuthaill warrior is all but gone in the present day, as for the past many centuries there has been no need of them. When communities needed martial defense, they would simply band together into an ad-hoc but surprisingly effective militia; with the formation of the Choir, even that need lessened with the aid of their allies with much more cultural and physical aptitude for combat. Still, with the undead invasion, these ways have seen something of a revival among some. Cuthaill naturally lack the physical strength of their allies, but they make up for this in other ways. No known clade in the world is as nimble of foot and hand as a Cuthaill, and this has made them precise archers and implacable enemies when armed with a dagger, or any other weapon that benefits from finesse. Cuthaill typically also eschew heavier armours for those reasons. But it is not completely alien to them, and the poor taller fool who laughs at a Cuthaill in plate will soon realise height is no real advantage when your kneecaps are pulp. Physiology Ages Cuthaill typically live to about 100 and mature around the age of 16. Particularly longevous individuals live up to 120. Appearance The Cuthaill tend to sit around 1 meter tall and are of relatively slender build. Hair colours vary, but tend toward darker shades. Eye colours are most commonly green, blue and brown. Men are capable of growing facial hair, though most who aren’t clean shaven tend toward more styled forms, such as mutton chops or moustaches rather than full beards. In Game Appearance ' 'MPM Sliders The following settings in MPM are assumed to be the average size for Cuthaill: Head: 65/65/65 Body: 65/65/65 Arms: 65/65/65 Leg : 65/65/65 Category:BW World 4 Category:Races